My Key Item (Joker X Futaba) Persona 5 Royal

Chapter Seven: I Can't

I walk to the academy in Hometown, people crossing the street as I approach them. It seems once again, I'm just the delinquent transfer student. Ryuji was the first one to ever realize that my status doesn't define who I am. He was my first real friend. It was thanks to him that I ever made friends in Ann, Makoto, Haru, Yusuke, and... and Futaba.

Morgana baps my arm, sticking it through a hole in my bag. "Hey, why'd you stop walking?... oh... You were thinking about her again, weren't you?" I nod my head, resuming my walk to school. "Hey, can I come out? I wanna see the sights!" I chuckle, setting down my bag, and kneeling, extending my arm. Mona quickly runs up my arm and settles on my shoulder. "Why didn't we ever do this back home?! This is GREAT!"

As I walk the last quarter mile to school, small children keep coming up asking to pet him. When we finally reach school, Morgana is scowling. "Right... that's why we never did this back home." I laugh for the first time in the week since I had arrived, scratching his head.

"Just take it as a compliment! You do make for a pretty cool cat!" He sighs exasperatedly.

"Come on, just go to class." I walk up a flight of stairs, reaching my classroom. When I walk inside, Morgana curses.

Standing before me was a girl with headphones around her neck, long orange hair, and a green coat. I turn around immediately, walking back downstairs, and almost make it to the front door, when someone grabs your arm.

"Dude! What's wrong!?" I know that voice. I turn around, and there he is.

"Ryuji!!" He pulls me in for a bro hug.

"Dude!! You never told me you were moving to Hometown! Hey, Mona!" Morgana hops off my shoulder and onto his, bapping Ryuji's ear with his paw.

"How's it hanging, Skull?" Ryuji drags me back to our classroom as Morgana switches carriers again.

"But dude, why the hell were you running- Oh..." He walks in and sees the girl who looks so much like Futaba. "Wait outside, just gimme a sec."

*******

I walk into the classroom, dodging the other students, until I'm standing before the girl. I tap her on the shoulder, and she turns, revealing sparkling blue eyes, instead of brown. Now that I see her up close and personal, she doesn't look anything like Futaba, but I can still see the resemblance.

"Hi, can I help you?" I shake my head.

"Sorry, nevermind, it's nothing. Sorry for disturbing yooouuu... Are you in this class?" The badge on her outfit marks her as a first year student, like Sumire.

"Oh, no, I'm not, sorry. My brother is, though, and he forgot his lunch. I'll be on my way now." She walks out of the classroom, and a few minutes later, Akira walks in.

"See dude? It's all goo-" I see he has his headphones in and his mouth is slightly ajar, his fingers swirling through the air. I pull them off his head, and put one ear on, hearing my girlfriend's voice. "Dude, seriously? Again? You're never going to get over her if you keep bringing her up!" Mona nods in agreement.

"Skull's right, for once. The Aria may be beautiful, but it's only going to keep hurting you." The bell rings for school to start, but the three of us continue standing, having no assigned seat. The teacher walks in, and smiles at us.

"Ah, you two must be the transfer students. Hello again, Akira."

He nods to her, wiping away a tear. "Mrs. Kimura. It's nice to see you again. This is my friend, Ryuji Sakamoto. He was my classmate at Shujin Academy." He notices Mrs. Kimura looking at Mona. "And this is my emotional support cat, Morgana. Don't worry, he's very well trained." He hands a note to her. She takes it and reads, scanning over the note.

"I see. Very well, just... umm..." She looks at Morgana, looking uncomfortable. "Keep the meowing to a minimum... alright?" Morgana nods, looking very happy. "You can sit where you want. Just try not to get distracted." As she walks away, I glance at the note. The Cat is weird, but he won't go anywhere without it. Please let him keep the cat in class. -Midori Kurusu I chuckle as we take seats next to each other, Akira by the windowsill, Morgana taking a perch there, basking in a ray of sunshine. Mrs. Kimura begins a lecture on a topic we had already covered at Shujin. I sneakily pull out my phone and text Ann.

R: He's listening to it again.

A: Again? This isn't healthy. You've gotta get his mind off of her!

R: I'll try, but I don't know if he's ever going to get over her! Their bond was so close. To lose it so suddenly... I don't know what I would do if that happened to us.

A: I know... My heart goes out to him, but eventually he'll have to move on. If he doesn't, he could turn into a shut in, like she was.

A: BTW, I won't be able to call tonight. I've got a gig all night.

I sigh. It wasn't uncommon for Ann to be out late modeling. I'm really proud of her, but sometimes it can make the evenings really boring when you're used to the rush of being a Phantom Thief.

R: That's ok. I'll talk to you tomorrow?

A: I promise. Love you! 😘

R: Love you too!

"Mr. Sakamoto? Can you answer that?" I look up, trying to play it off.

"Um, c-could I have the question again?"

"Of course. The red king crab is biologically related to the hermit crab. So how is it different from a regular crab?" I grinned. I actually knew this one.

"The number of legs! Crabs normally have 5 pairs of legs, but the Red King Crab only has 4 pairs, if you include the pincers!"

"That's correct! Mr. Kurusu, do you know the other way the legs on a Red King Crab differ?"

He sits up straighter in his chair, scratching Morgana absentmindedly on the head. "The direction the legs unfold is reversed. Typically, they face forward, but the Red King's do not."

Mrs. Kimura smiles slyly.

"You wouldn't happen to have already learned this at Shujin Academy, would you boys?"

I grin. "Maaaaayyyyybe. We might just be smart!"

Akira snorts, and Morgana laughs. Jerks.